Australia captain Pat Cummins was enthralled to see spinner Nathan Lyon hitting an eye-catching boundary off England pacer Stuart Broad during the business end of the recently concluded first Ashes 2023 Test match at Edgbaston. Lyon, in fact, hit Broad for a couple of fours down the ground on Tuesday. Cummins, however, specifically pointed out at the second one which further brought Australia closer to a 2-wicket win.
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Having picked four wickets each in the second innings to play a titular role in bundling out the home team for 273 in 66.2 overs, Cummins and Lyon batted with purpose and maturity to not let a batting blunder come in between them and a victory in what was a tense finish to yet another England-Australia Birmingham Test.
Pat Cummins’ Reaction To Nathan Lyon Four Off Stuart Broad At Edgbaston
Needing 11 runs to seal a 281-run chase, Lyon treated Broad with utter disrespect by hitting a fairly decent delivery over the mid-on for four runs. A balanced combination of slogging with a straight bat, Lyon connecting the ball with the required timing reduced the required number of runs to a single-digit figure.
Cummins, who was speaking to former England captain Michael Atherton during the post-match presentation ceremony hosted by Sky Sports Cricket, revealed how he reacted to a shot which also drew a similar reaction from the batter.
“I looked at him [Nathan Lyon], he walked past and I said ‘Nice shot, Garry!’ Think he was happy.”
While Lyon scored 16* (28), Cummins scored 44* (73) with the help of four fours and two sixes. Having already scored a couple of half-centuries in this format, the right-handed batter registered a third-highest individual score in Test cricket.
Pat Cummins Was Confident Of Australian Chasing Down The Target
Coming out to bat at No. 9 in the 73rd over, Cummins asserted that he was confident of Australia’s chances of chasing down the target in spite of 72 more runs to be scored. Cummins, who faced a majority of the 123 deliveries which were bowled in his presence, shared a match-winning 55-run ninth-wicket partnership alongside Lyon.
“[Australia’s chances?] Pretty good. The wicket didn’t have too many demons in it. I thought it was well within our grasp.”
The immensity of the 30-year old player’s knock can be observed from the fact that this is the highest score by a No. 9 (or lower) batter in a successful run-chase in Test history.
